DISCOVER GOD – WE CAN BELIEVE IN GOD (Part 4/6) 3. GOD COMES INTO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE The God who designed the starry heavens, who created the universe, comes into personal relationships with people. Deep in the mind and heart of every individual, God has planted the instinctive knowledge of His existence. He is “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9). The Bible asserts that our Creator seeks personal relationships with us. Abraham “was called Gods friend” (James 2:23). “The Lord would speak to Moses... as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). And God will enter into a personal relationship with you and become your Friend. Jesus promised those who follow Him: “You are my friends” (John 15:14). Human existence itself supports the idea of a personal God. We all know it to be a fact that personality exists here on this earth. We are persons, our friends are persons. Since there is personality, there must be a personal God as its cause. It is impossible for human beings to exist without a personal Creator back of them. Since there is individual personality, it is logical to conclude that a God who is also a Person is responsible for creating personalities. About 2500 years ago a group of Greek philosophers discussed the question, “What is the briefest possible definition of man?” Plato suggested: “Man is a two-legged animal.” Another philosopher, however, exposed this definitions limitations by fetching a rooster. He held it up and said, “Behold Platos man!” They pondered in silence a few moments until one of the thinkers exclaimed, “I have it! Man is a religious animal.” Thats it in a nutshell. Humanity is incurably religious. We alone feel a sense of need for a High Power. All of us, whether atheistic or devout, have wrestled with the idea of God. Were distinguished from animals by our imagination and reason, and by our will to choose right or wrong. No animal ever builds an altar for worship. Yet everywhere you find men and women, you find them worshiping. Deep within every human heart is an innate desire to worship, “a consciousness of God.” God has places within all of us a desire to come into companionship with Him. When we respond to our longing and find God, there is no longer a doubt about His existence and our need. During the 1990s millions of atheists in Russia renounced atheism and turned to God. A university professor St. Petersburg whose field is astronomy made a statement that typifies the comments made by many transformed atheists in the former Soviet Union: “I have searched for a meaning to life in my scientific research, but found nothing to have confidence in. The scientists around me feel the same vacuum. As I looked at the vastness of the universe in my study of astronomy, and the emptiness of my soul, I felt there must be some meaning. Then, when I received the Bible you gave me and began reading it the vacuum in my life was filled. I have found the Bible to be the only source of confidence to my soul. I have accepted Jesus as my Saviour and have found true peace, comfort, and satisfaction in life.” A Christian believes in God because he or she has met Him and discovers that He satisfies the hearts deepest needs. The God whom Christians have joyfully found to exist, gives us a new perspective, new meaning, new motives, new perspectives, new meaning, new motives, new purposes, and new joys. God doesnt promise a life free from trouble and conflict, but He does assure us that He will guide and sustain us if we come into a personal relationship with Him. And millions of Christians will testify that they would give up everything rather than go back to life without God. This is the greatest wonder of all-that the Almighty God who designed all creatures and created and sustains the galaxies also desires a personal relationship with every man and woman, boy and girl. David marveled at this, when he wrote: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?” -Psalm 8:3-4. Our Creator is “mindful” of each one of us. He takes as personal an interest in your= as if you were the only being He had created. So we can believe in God: 1. Because of the intricate design in everything He created about us. 2. Because of the longing for God within us that leaves us restless till we find our rest in Him. 3. And because when we seek and find Him, God satisfies our every need and longing-to the full! Now, its only reasonable that a personal God would want to reveal Himself to His created beings just as a father desires that his children know him. And God reveals Himself to us in the Bible (Week 2 will give evidence that the Bible is a reliable Book given to us by the God who created us.)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 05:08:21 +0000
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